The Big Ten Conference is the oldest college athletic conference in the United States. Its twelve member schools are located primarily in the Midwestern United States. The conference was more commonly known as the Western Conference after its inception in 1896, and changed its institutional lineup several times over the following decades. In 1917, Michigan rejoined the conference (then known as the Big Nine) after a 9-year absence, and the conference was for the first time dubbed the Big Ten. It was not until 1987 that the conference formally acquired its current moniker, the Big Ten Conference.

The Big Ten Conference is actually composed of twleve schools, as Penn State joined the roster in 1990, and the University of Nebraska in 2011. Ten out of twelve schools in the conference are considered Public Ivies, a term coined by Richard Moll in 1985 to indicate public institutions which "provide an Ivy League collegiate experience at a public school price." Northwestern University is the only private university in the conference.

Currently, Pennsylvania State University holds the conference record for most NCAA championships. University of Michigan, Ohio State University and University of Minnesota hold the top three spots for most Big Ten Conference football championships in that order.